Security is top concern at Chesco Justice Center

WEST CHESTER — The traffic and stunning news about a fatal shooting at the New Castle County Courthouse in nearby Wilmington, Del., confirmed for Chester County Sheriff Carolyn “Bunny” Welsh two facts of life in protecting a courthouse.

First, the most troublesome cases are not those involving high-profile murderers, but rather everyday folks involved in family disputes.

And second, no matter what steps her sheriff’s department takes to insure public safety at the county Justice Center on Market Street, her deputies act more as deterrent than as prevention.

“The action is first, then comes the reaction,” Welsh, who as county sheriff since 2000 is responsible for the overall security inside the courthouse. “But if someone is determined to target someone for violence outside the courthouse, it would almost be impossible to stop that.”

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According to news accounts, the man who shot and killed his former daughter-in-law and a friend of hers, then himself, had waited in the lobby of the courthouse in downtown Wilmington with a gun at the ready.

He shot the two women, then wounded two security officers at the courthouse before turning the gun on himself.

“It happened so fast,” said Jose Beltran, 53, an employee at the courthouse who was entering the lobby when he heard two shots. He said he turned around and heard three or more shots as he ran.

Welsh, on Friday, said she felt sure that her staff would be able to stop someone from entering the courthouse itself with a gun, using security monitors and a trained, observant force in its lobby. But outside there is little to do to stop a premeditated shooting, she said, as the Wilmington incident illustrates.

The shooter, a 68-year-old Texas man, had not gone through the courthouse security stations and did not pose a threat beforehand.

“It is an example of the level of violence that can come in Family Court matters,” Welsh said in her office at the Justice Center. The situations, such as the child support hearing in the custody dispute at the center of the Delaware shooting, are volatile, she said, since they involve “changing people’s lives, their fortunes, their family.”

In fact, on Thursday on the county courthouse’s fifth floor, where the vast majority of Family Court maters are heard, a participant in a case became emotionally upset over something and lashed out – shouting an crying in the hallway outside a courtroom. Two deputies were dispatched to assist the one deputy who was assigned to monitor the courtrooms there; the situation was diffused soon afterwards.

“We have vigilant deputies who are well-trained to keep an eye on what is happening,” Welsh said. “But things can happen so quickly and unexpectedly that it is hard to prepare for everything.

“In criminal court, we know who the bad guys are,” she added. “But in Family Court, it’s hard to know who the disgruntled family member is going to be.”

The design of the Justice Center is conducive to overall security, she said. There is only one entrance for the public, and but a small lobby where those entering are within 15 feet of security monitor. There is little room for loitering, and the main lobby sits above the entryway, giving armed deputies the ability to look out over the doors, standing in a “crow’s nest,” as Welsh put it.

“I think we have a good set-up,” she said. “It allows us to observe and to be able to respond quickly.”

Since the Justice Center opened in 2008, only one person has been caught bringing a gun into the building – a defendant in a family support matter who said he had forgotten that he had a pistol in his briefcase.

On Monday at 8 a.m., 68-year-old Thomas Matusiewicz of Texas walked into the lobby of the Wilmington courthouse and shot and killed former daughter-in-law Christine Belford and her friend Laura Mulford.

Belford and Matusiewicz’s son, David, had been involved in a bitter, years-long custody battle and were at the courthouse for a child support hearing.

On Friday, David Matusiewicz waived a preliminary hearing in federal court on charges that he violated his probation on federal fraud and kidnapping charges. He also waived a hearing on a request by federal prosecutors that he remain in custody until the probation violation hearing, which has not been scheduled.

Even though Matusiewicz waived his right to a detention hearing, Magistrate Judge Mary Pat Thynge indicated that she likely would have ordered that he remain in custody anyway.

“The court does have concerns about him being a risk of flight due to past history,” she said. “... He may decide to take off.”

“Past history speaks volumes as far as Mr. Matusiewicz is concerned,” she added.

Matusiewicz was taken into custody after Monday’s shooting. Federal authorities say he violated the terms of his probation by failing to disclose that he spent the night before the shooting at a home in Elkton, Md., after telling probation officials that he was staying at his uncle’s home in New Jersey.